Ekl march 2017

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Editor’s Desk

Corruption Corruption in public service remains a major problem around the world. It is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain by a person in position or authority.

Corruption corrodes the fabric of society and undermines our trust in political and economic systems, institutions and leaders. It can cost people their freedom, health, money – and sometimes their lives.

Corruption is taken to mean dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Dishonesty, deceit, deception, double-dealing, fraud, misconduct, crime, bribery, graft, extortion, profiteering, shadiness, crookedness, deprivation, vice, etc. are words synonymous with corruption.

Corruption can also be thought of as an action to secretly provide a good or a service to a third party who can influence certain actions which benefit the stakeholders. It may also include ‘legal corruption’ in which power is abused within the confines of the law-as those with power often have the ability to make laws for their protection.

Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement. Public corruption occurs when an office-holder or other government employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain.

Corruption in education is a worldwide phenomenon. Corruption in admissions to universities is traditionally considered as one of the most corrupt areas of the education sector. Doctoral education deserves special mention, with dissertations and doctoral degrees available for sale. In many societies and international organizations, education corruption remains a taboo. In some countries, corruption occurs frequently in universities. This can include bribes to bypass bureaucratic procedures and bribing faculty for a higher grade. The willingness to engage in corruption such as accepting money in exchange for grades decreases if individuals perceive such behavior as very objectionable.

Philosophers and religious thinkers have responded to the inescapable reality of corruption in different ways. Plato, in The Republic, acknowledges the corrupt nature of political institutions, and recommends that philosophers “shelter behind a wall” to avoid senselessly martyring themselves. In the New Testament, people are advised not to love the corrupt world or the corrupt things of the world. While readers may have to often obey corrupt rulers in order to live in the world, the spirit is subject to no law, but to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. People are advised to adopt a disposition in which they are “in the world, but not of the world.” This disposition shows us a way to escape “slavery to corruption” and experience the freedom and glory of being innocent “children of God.” N T Nair, Trivandrum ntnair@gmail.com

1 March ’17 March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines3

Nature Line

Grapefruit

For Body Thinning The grapefruit is an ever green subtropical tree growing up to a height of 15 m. Its leaves are glossy dark green, up to 15 cm long and thin. Flowers are white, four petaled and 5 cm long. Its citrus fruit is yellow-orange skinned and generally an oblate spheroid in shape; it ranges in diameter from 10 to 15 cm. The flesh is segmented and acidic, varying in color depending on the variety, which includes white, pink and red pulps of varying sweetness. Grapefruit is a hybrid originating in Barbados as an accidental cross between two introduced species, sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) and pomelo or shaddock (Citrus maxima), both of which were introduced from Asia in the seventeenth century. When found, it was named the forbidden fruit, and it has also been misidentified with the pomelo. From the way it grows, John Lunan, a botanist, gave it that name in 1814 because the fruits grow in grape-like clusters.

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The fruit, when ripe, is larger than the largest orange, and exceeds in the delicacy. It has somewhat the taste of a shaddock, as well as the best orange. The hybrid fruit was first documented in 1750 by a Welshman, Rev. Griffith Hughes, who described specimens from Barbados in The Natural History of Barbados. Currently, the grapefruit is said to be one of the Seven Wonders of Barbados.

Botanically, it was not distinguished from the pomelo until the 1830s, when it was given the name Citrus paradisi. Its true origins were not determined until the 1940s. This led to the official name being altered to Citrus × paradisi, the "×" identifying its hybrid origin.

The top eleven grapefruit producing countries are China, United States, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, India, Sudan and Ghana. The total annual production is over eight million metric tons.

As Food and Drink In terms of its culinary value, grapefruit is considered a wonderful appetizer, and is regularly included for breakfast as a refreshing and energizing start to the day. Grapefruit juice, when combined with water, can quench thirst very quickly and can keep you hydrated longer. Most of these benefits come from the high content of vitamin C in grapefruits, which acts as a general immune defense system. So it can help you dispel your general tiredness and fatigue caused from routine or boring work. Drinking equal amounts of grapefruit juice and lemon juice can be a refreshing and delicious way to quickly boost your energy levels. Nootkatone is a very rare and important compound found in grapefruits, and is probably its most valuable component in terms of extracting an aromatic substance. Nootkatone improves energy metabolism in the body. This results in higher endurance and energy, and increased weight loss.

The presence of fiber and vegetative pulp in grapefruits add bulk to the bowels and regulates your excretory schedule. A glass full of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice in the morning is a great remedy to control constipation. The juice stimulates the colon and other parts of the body relating to the digestive system. This is due to the stimulating effect of fiber on the secretion and stimulation of gastric juices that ease the constriction of the digestive tract and induce bowel movement. Grapefruit juice, taken before all three meals of the day, can work as an appropriate pro-biotic and digestive enzyme, and will relieve excess flatulence and stomach discomfort.

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In addition to the substantial proportion of vitamin C, grapefruit contains vitamins – A, B6 and B12. Other nutrients are carbohydrate, potassium, dietary fiber, sugar, protein, phosphorus, lycopene and magnesium.

A glass of grapefruit juice, if drunk before going to bed, can promote healthy sleep and alleviate the irritating symptoms and repercussions of insomnia. This is due to the presence of tryptophan in grapefruits, the chemical we often associate with becoming sleepy after big meals.

The grapefruit diet is perhaps one of the oldest fads around for dieting.

In fact, it has been around in modern society since the 1930s. People who use the grapefruit diet claim that it is a way to lose weight very quickly.

Some people focus on a 12-day fast through which they eat only small meals that are all accompanied by half a grapefruit per meal. The grapefruit possesses enzymes that speed up the weight loss process promoting rapid shedding of unwanted weight.

The grapefruit diet is often nicknamed the "Hollywood diet." This is because an individual who follows it for a full stretch of 12 days can see a drop of as much as four to five kg or more in weight. Many doctors note that the average calorie consumption on the grapefruit diet is about 1200 calories per day, and it is the limited caloric intake that leads to weight loss.

Studies have shown that incorporating grapefruit juice and grapefruits into your diet, along with healthy dietary changes and regular exercise, can reduce your insulin levels and encourage some loss of fat in the body helping a reduction in the chances of developing diabetes. A daily glass of grapefruit juice or half of a grapefruit for breakfast is normally considered a healthy diet choice: that grapefruit delivers vitamin C, fiber, and potassium.

Health Benefits Grapefruits are loaded with nutrients and vitamins that can help you reach your optimal health and give you the energy needed to work regularly. In turn, these qualities of a healthy lifestyle can help you keep your weight in control.

The health benefits of grapefruits are wide-ranging and nearly unmatched by any other fruit. A glass of chilled grapefruit juice, especially in winter, helps considerably boost your levels of vitamin C, which gives grapefruits a high place amongst various citrus fruits. Grapefruits are high in fiber and low in calories, and they contain bioflavonoids and other plant chemicals that enables protection against serious diseases like cancer, 6ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMarch 2017

heart disease, and the formation of tumors. Grapefruits increase the body’s metabolic rate, lower insulin levels and give you a feeling of fullness and normality. It assists the human body in fighting various conditions like fatigue, fever, malaria, diabetes, constipation, indigestion, urinary problems, excess acidity and many more.

Grapefruit works as a natural antiseptic for external wounds, powerful drug/poison eliminators and a liver tonic. It contains a high water content, which helps in changing the complexion of the skin and increasing the body’s metabolic rate. The pulp and fiber of grapefruits supply healthy bulk to our food intake, which aids bowel movements and reduces chances of colon cancer. It also helps to quench thirst and thus, reduces the burning sensation that arises during fever. The Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that the intake of grapefruit reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Grape fruit contains valuable natural ‘quinine’ which is advantageous for the treatment of malaria. Quinine is an alkaloid with a long history of treating malaria, as well as lupus, arthritis, and nocturnal leg cramps.

Diabetic patients can safely eat grapefruit, because consuming grapefruit can reduce the level of starch in the body. Recent studies have shown this beneficial effect of grapefruit on diabetes to be due to the flavonoid content of grapefruits, along with a number of other healthy benefits from those compounds.

Fresh grapefruit juice creates an alkaline reaction after digestion. The citric acid of the fruit increases the effect of the alkalinity reaction after digestion. The juice extracted from the grapefruit is beneficial in preventing acid formation and diseases that arise due to the presence of excess acidity in the body.

Grapefruit juice is quite rich in potassium and vitamin C, so it is one of the best treatments for dangerously reduced urination that is often caused by liver, kidney or heart problems. Furthermore, its high potassium content works as a vasodilator, meaning that blood vessels and arteries relax, reducing blood pressure and lessening the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Also, increased levels of potassium have been associated with higher cognitive function because of increased blood and oxygen flow to the brain!

Grapefruits are natural sources of medicine that help the body fight off various diseases. It enables the human body to regulate cholesterol, which means that it minimizes the risk of various cardiovascular diseases caused March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines7

by cholesterol issues. The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry hints that consumption of grapefruit can reduce LDL cholesterol, as well as hazardous triglycerides. Grapefruit extract is often used in the preparation of some modern medicines.

Caution Despite all of these health benefits, you must be very careful in taking medicines and consuming grapefruit juice at the same time. Certain chemicals in grapefruits, like naringin, and other less common compounds can negatively interact with various drugs and cause damage to your organ systems. Consuming grapefruit along with medicines may change the rate certain drugs are absorbed into the bloodstream. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice interact with multiple prescription medicines, and consuming grapefruit while on these medications can be dangerous. With several cholesterol lowering drugs, especially statin class of prescription medicines, some blood-pressure medications, some antihistamines, as well as other drug classes, contents of grapefruit may react causing bad effects on health.

Essentially, the juice of grapefruit changes the absorption of certain drugs into the bloodstream. Katherine Zeratsky, a Mayo Clinic Nutritionist, explains, "Problems arise because chemicals in the fruit can interfere with the enzymes that break down (metabolize) the medication in your digestive system. As a result, the medication may stay in your body for too short or too long a time. A medication that's broken down too quickly won't have time to work. On the other hand, a medication that stays in the body too long can increase to potentially dangerous levels, causing serious side effects. For statins in particular, grapefruit juice increases the level of statin in the blood, to a potentially dangerous level�.

For those who are not on prescription medication of any sort, grapefruit and grapefruit juice makes a useful nutritional choice.

[CGS]

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.

- Mark Twain 8ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMarch 2017

Space Line

Beer and Astronomy

What is Common Between Them?

The word “TRAPPIST” unites them! It is the name of a popular, delicious beer brewed in Trappist (a Catholic religious order) monasteries. And then there is a Belgian astronomical telescope named after the beer.TRAPPIST is a robotic telescope, at ESO's (European Southern Observatory) La Silla Observatory situated high in the Chilean mountain.The full name of the telescope is Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope. A joint venture between the University of Liege, Belgium, and the Geneva Observatory, Switzerland, it specializes in searching for comets and exoplanets. This telescope was in the news recently.

On February 22, 2017, there came an announcement that NASA and its partners around the world have sighted seven potentially earthlike planets around a star 40 lightyears away. (One light year is the distance light – the fastest thing in the universe – travels in one year.

And, that is an astounding 10,000,000,000,000 km!). Three of those planets –sighted earlier in May 2016 – are in the habitable zone, and are very likely to contain liquid water.The presence of water in the remaining four is not certain at the moment. This is the first time we saw so many planets orbiting a star outside the Solar System.

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The star in question is in the constellation Aquarius and has been fondly named TRAPPIST-1 (it has a formidable scientific name, though!) after the namesake telescope whose first discovery was a few of the planets around this tiny, ultra-cool star. It is cool because it is small; its mass is merely a tenth of our sun and is a thousandth as bright. Its small mass is what allows its planets to orbit very close to it in the habitable zone. And, the seven planets are referred to as TRAPPIST–1b through TRAPPIST–1h, signifying their order of discovery. Their orbital periods (year) around the star range from 1½ earth-days to 20 earthdays. The distance of the planets from their host-star, TRAPPIST-1, is comparable to that between Jupiter and its moons. The planets of TRAPPIST-1 system may be rocky and similar in size as the earth, give or take 20%. They are believed to be tidally locked to the star so that the same side always faces the star (tidal locking is the reason why we keep seeing always the same face of our moon). The result is that each planet has a permanent day side and a permanent night side. Being so close together, they would appear in the sky like moons.

The highly sophisticated James Webb Space Telescope, due for launch in 2018, can assess the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. If presence of telltale gases like ozone, oxygen, or methane is indicated, we may presume the existence of life there. Anyway, we will come to know a lot more about the TRAPPIST planets in a few years.

Fifty years ago we were thrilled by the adventures of the crew of the TV series, Star Trek, who were out to explore fictional strange new worlds. Today, data from various powerful telescopes – both on the earth and out in deep space – are supplying a wealth of data on real strange worlds attached to stars in our galaxy other than our sun.

Astronomers rate the discovery of TRAPPIST-1 system as a giant leap in our search for habitable worlds and life elsewhere. There is a general air of confidence among astronomers that signal the message: “Finding another earth-like planet isn’t a matter of IF but WHEN!” [PR] 10Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

Once we smugly thought we, humans, were special among the living creatures. Our vanity led us to regard our earth as the centre of what we could then conceive as the universe. In course of time, our self-pride had to take two severe, humbling blows. The first was when the earth was tossed out of the central position in the scheme of things. The second was indeed worse when we, Homo Sapiens, were relegated to a descent from the animal kingdom. It was not easy to reconcile ourselves with these shocks, especially the second.

Exoplanets (Extra Solar Planets) are planets orbiting round their own stars beyond our Solar System. Thousands have been discovered during the last quarter century, mostly with NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. These come in various sizes, orbits and composition. We are indeed looking for a planet(s), roughly the size of the earth in the habitable zone (also known as Goldilocks Zone) – a range of distances from the star where the planet’s temperature permits the existence of liquid water, essential for the form of life as we comprehend. Besides the distance and the resulting temperature, a habitable planet should also meet certain other criteria such as the nature of its surface, atmosphere and gravity. In short, the first step in finding life outside our own planet is to locate a planet like our own – small, rocky, and at just the right distance from the star that liquid water could exist on its surface.

Exoplanets were observed first 1992 (around a pulsar, a type of very massive star) and in 1995 (around a “normal” star like our sun). Since then, exoplanets have become the subject of intense research in astronomy and several thousands have been discovered so far.

Planets are believed to form basically from protoplanetary discs consisting of dust and gas around very young stars. These dust particles keep clumping together under the effect of gravity to form planetoids, which are bigger than meteorites and comets, but smaller than planets. Over millions of years, planetoids accumulate and grow into planets. Such is our current understanding.

The wealth of data now available on exoplanets is helping scientists answer questions about the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies.

We had hitherto nothing to compare our Solar System and Our Galaxy (The Milky Way) to benchmark ourselves. Studying other young planetary systems hold the key to many a puzzle.

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Hunting for Earths New Places to Move in “The earth is the cradle of humankind.

But one cannot live in the cradle forever” – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Rocket Pioneer)

In the whole universe the only place we know that abounds in life is our Mother Earth. She has the right conditions for life to sprout and evolve. Not for a moment should we forget how fortunate we are in being where we are! Are there places beyond our solar system that can host life? We don’t know. But the hunt is certainly on!

If it were not for certain specific conditions the earth is endowed with, life could not have been possible here. These favorable conditions (EKL March 2015) include: (1) An agreeable range of temperature in which liquid water, essential for life, can exist. This results from our right distance from the sun.

(2) A life-supporting atmosphere held in place by right gravity.

(3) A magnetic field together with the atmosphere warding off lethal radiations from space.

Our sole energy source is the sun that is now in its mid-life and has another 5 billion years before its demise, which might seem too distant to be worrisome. But Princeton University astrophysicist Richard Gott III pointed out in 2007 that the future may well be far more dismal.

Prof. Gott reminds us that mankind is equally vulnerable to all the catastrophic events like impact of asteroids and comets, run-away climate 12Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

changes and viral diseases that wiped out many species in the past. Besides, we have devices for self-annihilation like nuclear arms and biological weapons. We pose a threat not only to other species but to ourselves, too! We may have conquered the planet, which is but a tiny island in the universe! A species confined to an island is condemned to tread on a road to extinction.

Using the data that Homo sapiens have been here for 200,000 years, Prof. Gott tells us with 95 % statistical confidence that human race may become extinct any time between 5000 years and 8 million years from now. Even 8 million years is only a minuscule fraction of the remaining 5 billion year-long life of our sun. Along similar lines, he infers further that the ‘critical population’ necessary for complex, expensive space ventures may become unavailable during the next 50 – 1800 years as a result of any catastrophic fall in population due to a variety of reasons. This period is merely a moment in the historical time scale!

Prof. Gott apparently does not leave a lot of time at our disposal. He urges, therefore, that we must, for the sake of our very survival, locate other suitable places before our space program ends. Or else, human species would be stranded on this planet awaiting inevitable extinction! His prediction may sound absurdly farfetched; but it is not outside the realm of possibility. We may take it or leave it!

Be that as it may, it is worthwhile looking for habitable places outside the Solar System for mankind to migrate merely for adventure or for survival. The planet-hunting space telescope, Kepler, launched in 2009, has been able to sight over 1000 confirmed and Extra-Solar System-Planets (Exoplanets) in addition to 3000 unconfirmed candidates. There may be millions more out there! Certainly, not all of them will be habitable.

What are habitable planets?

Habitability of a planet (or, even a satellite of a planet) refers to the potential for life to develop and sustain. Currently our notion of life beyond the earth is limited by the conditions on the earth that support life.

The primary requirement is that the planet should be in a Habitable Zone (HZ) around a star serving as a primary source of energy. The next is the presence of liquid water, a vital ingredient for life. If ever life is detected in the absence of water, our ideas of HZ will have to be radically revised.

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Actually a given HZ does not stay permanently stable because, as the star (sun in our Solar System) ages, it increases in brightness rendering the zone too hot. What matters is how fast the star ages. More massive the star, the faster it ages. Average sun-like stars are, therefore, most favorable for sustaining life. The main attribute characterizing a habitable planet is how terrestrial (earth-like) it is. Such a planet is generally of a mass comparable to that of the earth – and if heavier, less than a few times as heavy – and is primarily composed of silicate rocks. Besides, unlike the so-called Gas Giants (e.g., Jupiter and Saturn), its atmosphere should be virtually devoid of gases like Hydrogen and Helium. Natural satellites of gas giants, however, cannot be ruled out as unfit for life. Actually, several other geophysical and geochemical criteria have also to be met in order for an exoplanet to be able to promote assembly of complex molecules and to sustain metabolism.

Not entirely a measure of habitability, Earth Similarity Index (ESI) is a parameter used by planetary scientists to evaluate a planet’s suitability for life. This is determined by a given planet’s size, density, gravity (strictly, escape velocity) and surface temperature. Lying between 0 and 1, ESI expresses how closely the planet matches with the earth. A terrestrial, rocky planet is indicated by ESI more than 0.8.

Merely 50% farther away from the sun than the earth, Mars lies outside the Habitable Zone in our Solar System. It is too cold (-50⁰C) and its ESI only 0.64. Yet, Mars is a potential target location for our initial experiments in extra-terrestrial colonization because of its proximity. The journey to Mars takes just 8 months. We will have to undertake a lot of planet engineering on Mars, though, to render it habitable! In all probability, we will hear human voice from Mars in the foreseeable future.

Seemingly favorable exoplanets discovered so far are all tens of light years away in the least. Available rockets do not permit us to traverse such distance in anywhere near human life span! Such expeditions have to wait until the advent of revolutionary advances in rocket propulsion. Do let us keep at planet-hunting, though!

“I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space.”

– Stephen Hawking [PR] [EKL Dec. 2015] 14Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

Health Line

Cholesterol Confusion Regulate Through Daily Routines Even after several years of research to bring clarity over the effect of cholesterol on heart disease, serious confusion still persists. Recent researches shed much needed light on this topic. According to them heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, the most common form of which is coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD affects the blood vessels supplying blood to your heart, causing them to narrow, thereby restricting the amount of oxygen supplied to your heart. The conventional view is that high cholesterol is a major risk factor for this condition. But research studies point to the adverse effects of cholesterol reducing drugs, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk! Many research studies confirm that there really is no correlation between high cholesterol and plaque formation that leads to heart disease.

Cholesterol is actually a critical part of your body's foundational building materials and is absolutely essential for optimal health. It is so important that your body produces it both in your liver and in your brain. There is no doubt that your body needs cholesterol. In fact, new evidence shows that cholesterol deficiency has a detrimental impact on virtually every aspect of your health. Cholesterol plays a critical role within your cell membranes.

Your body is composed of trillions of cells that need to interact with each other and cholesterol is one of the molecules that allow for these

6

EKL Sudoku 113 [Medium]

Improve your concentration.

Use reasoning and fill each row, column and 3 x 3 grid in bold borders with each of the digits from 1 to 9.

Solution on page 24

8 2

9

7 1

3 2

1

6

9 4 8 9 2 1 8 7 4 5 8 4 2

2 7 9 6

5 1

4

March 2017 ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž15

interactions to take place. For example, cholesterol is the precursor to bile acids, so without sufficient quantity of cholesterol, your digestive system can be adversely affected.

Cholesterol also plays an essential role in your brain, which contains about 25 percent of the cholesterol in your body. It is critical for synapse formation, i.e. the connections between your neurons, which allow you to think, learn new things, and form memories. In fact, there's reason to believe that low-fat diets and/or cholesterol-lowering drugs may cause or contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Low cholesterol levels have also been linked to violent behavior, due to adverse changes in brain chemistry. Furthermore, you need cholesterol to produce steroid hormones, including your sex hormones. Vitamin D is also synthesized from a close relative of cholesterol: 7-dehydrocholesterol.

One finding of Dr. Stephanie Seneff, who works with the Weston A. Price Foundation is that cholesterol combines with sulfur to form cholesterol sulfate, and that this cholesterol sulfate helps thin your blood by serving as a reservoir for the electron donations you receive when walking barefoot on the earth (also called grounding). She believes that, via this blood-thinning mechanism, cholesterol sulfate may provide natural protection against heart disease. In fact, she goes so far as to hypothesize that heart disease is likely the result of cholesterol deficiency - which of course is the complete opposite of the conventional view.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease One of the primary culprits is sugar and fructose in particular. So eating a high sugar diet is a sure-fire way to put heart disease on your list of potential health problems. Meanwhile, total cholesterol will tell you virtually nothing about your disease risk, unless it is exceptionally elevated (above 330 or so, which would be suggestive of familial hypercholesterolemia, which would be about the only time a cholesterol-reducing drug would be appropriate).

HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your total cholesterol. This percentage should ideally be above 24 percent. Below 10 percent, it is a significant indicator of risk for heart disease. Similarly, your triglyceride/HDL ratio should ideally be below 2.

Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar. The insulin released from eating too many carbs 16ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMarch 2017

promotes fat and makes it more difficult for your body to shed excess weight, and excess fat, particularly around your belly, and is one of the major contributors to heart disease. Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 100-125 mg/dl had a nearly 300 percent increased risk of having coronary heart disease than people with a level below 79 mg/dl.

Iron can be a very potent oxidative stress, so if you have excess iron levels you can damage your blood vessels and increase your risk of heart disease.

Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and make sure they are not much above 80 ng/ml. The simplest way to lower them if they are elevated is to donate your blood. If that is not possible you can have a therapeutic phlebotomy and that will effectively eliminate the excess iron from your body.

Cholesterol reducing drugs have shown to increase your risk of diabetes, via a number of different mechanisms. The most important one is that they increase insulin resistance, which can be extremely harmful to your health.

Increased insulin resistance contributes to chronic inflammation in your body, and inflammation is the hallmark of most diseases. In fact, increased insulin resistance can lead to heart disease, which, ironically, is the primary reason for taking a cholesterol-reducing drug in the first place. It can also promote belly fat, high blood pressure, heart attacks, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, and diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer.

Cholesterol reducing drugs may increase your diabetes risk by actually raising your blood sugar. When you eat a meal that contains starches and sugar, some of the excess sugar goes to your liver, which then stores it away as cholesterol and triglycerides. These drugs work by preventing your liver from making cholesterol. As a result, your liver returns the sugar to your bloodstream, which raises your blood sugar levels. They may also interfere with the mevalonate pathway, which is the central pathway for the steroid management in your body.

Natural Way to Optimize Your Cholesterol Levels The most effective way to optimize your cholesterol profile and prevent heart disease is via diet and exercise. It is said that 75 percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol and reduce your risk of both diabetes and heart disease.

The underlying cause of heart disease is said to be insulin resistance and arterial wall damage - both of which are caused by eating too many March 2017 ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž17

sugars, grains, and especially fructose. So, some primary recommendations for safely regulating your cholesterol and reducing your risk of heart disease include: • Reduction, with the plan of eliminating grains and fructose from your diet. This is one of the best ways to optimize your insulin levels, which will have a positive effect on not just your cholesterol, but also reduces your risk of diabetes and heart disease, and most other chronic diseases.

• Get plenty of high-quality omega-3 fats, such as krill oil, and reduce your consumption of damaged omega-6 fats (trans fats, vegetable oils) to balance out your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.

• Include heart-healthy foods in your diet, such as olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats.

• Optimize your vitamin D levels by getting proper sun exposure or using a safe tanning bed.

• Optimize your gut flora, as recent research suggests the bacterial balance in your intestines may play a role in your susceptibility to heart disease as well.

• Exercise daily. Make sure you incorporate Peak Fitness exercises, which also optimizes your human growth hormone (HGH) production.

• Walk barefoot to ground yourself to the earth. Lack of grounding has a lot to do with the rise of modern diseases as it affects inflammatory processes in your body. Grounding thins your blood, making it less viscous.

Virtually every aspect of cardiovascular disease has been correlated with elevated blood viscosity. When you ground to the earth, your zeta potential quickly rises, which means your red blood cells have more charge on their surface, which forces them apart from each other. This action causes your blood to thin and flow easier. By repelling each other, your red blood cells are also less inclined to stick together and form a clot.

• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.

• Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

Remember, your body needs cholesterol for the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. There is also strong evidence that having too little cholesterol increases your risk for cancer, memory loss, Parkinson's disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide, and violent behavior.

18Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

Knowing that high cholesterol may not be the cause of heart disease frees you to take a serious look at what does cause this potentially lethal condition. In fact, poor lifestyle choices are primarily to blame, such as too much sugar, too little exercise, lack of sun exposure and never grounding to the earth. These are all things that are within your control, and don't cost much (if any) money to address.

[Source: Internet Health Tips]

General Line

Corruption Perceptions Index

A Global Measure of the Phenomenon Corruption in public service remains a major problem around the world. Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption corrodes the fabric of society. It undermines people’s trust in political and economic systems, institutions and leaders. It can cost people their freedom, health, money – and sometimes their lives.

The Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) releases every year the Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country’s or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. The organisation has used the World Bank data, the world economic forum and other institutions to rank countries by perceived levels of corruption in public sector. The score of a country runs from zero to 100, with maximum score for the least corrupted. The latest list of index for 2016 is topped by New Zealand and Denmark with a score of 90 each. Higher-ranked countries tend to have higher degrees of press freedom, access to information about public expenditure, stronger standards of integrity for public officials, and independent judicial systems.

The index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, looking at a range of factors like whether governmental leaders are held March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines19

to account or go unpunished for corruption, the perceived prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.

Somalia was ranked the most corrupt country with a score of 10. Other countries with lower rankings were South Sudan, North Korea, Syria, and Yemen. The lower-ranked countries in the index were plagued by untrustworthy and badly functioning public institutions like the police and judiciary.

India is the 79th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries included in the latest survey, according to the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Rank in India averaged 75.32 from 1995 until 2016, with a rank of 95 in 2011 (the worst) and a record 35 (the best) in 1995. India occupies 79th position along with China, Brazil and Belarus. According to the 2015 index of 168 countries, India was at the 76th position. Its score marginally improved from 38 in 2015 to 40 in 2016. India had a score of 36 in 2012.

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index of 2015, Denmark topped the list with a score of 91. On the 100 point scale, countries with score less than 50 are considered to have serious corruption problems. 67% countries worldwide have score less than 50.

North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged score of 8. Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries studied scored below 50 and the global average was 43.

According to the index, over 6 billion people live in countries with serious corruption issues. Still, Transparency International said it was a good sign that 64 countries improved their score while there was decrease only for 53. The rest were unchanged.

The US stayed at 16th place with a score of 76, while the UK at 10th, with a score of 81 along with Germany and Luxembourg. The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Canada.

Russia, with an improvement in ranking stays in 119th place, along with Azerbaijan, Guyana and Sierra Leone. Brazil with a score of 38 is in the 76th place along with India. But according to the 2016 index, Russia went down to the 131st place along with Ukraine, Kazakhsthan, Iran and Nepal.

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Nature Line

Vasala Cheera

Vine of Numerous Nutrients Vasala cheera, botanically known as Basella Alba or Basella Rubra is a very popular green vegetable in India, Southeast Asia, China and Africa. The stem of the Basella Alba is green and the stem of the cultivar Basella Rubra is reddish-purple; the leaves in both cases are green. Alba means white and refer to the white flowers of the plant; rubra means red in latin. In taste, they are indistinguishable. It is an edible perennial vine in the family Basellaceae. It is native to India and the rest of the world and is also known as Malabar spinach, red vine spinach, alugbati, Malabar nightshade or Ceylon spinach. It does not belong to the spinach family as such. The name, Malabar, refers to the northern areas of Kerala state in India. This at least is fitting, since it is thought that Malabar Spinach originated in India (although some research suggests Indonesia).

Food and Nutrient Value Basella’s young picked leaves are tender and perfect in a salad or juice.

The larger leaves are succulent, with a slightly mucilaginous texture, perfect for thickening soups and curries. The seeds are encased in a small berry fruit that stains all it touches with an assertive purple mark. For that reason alone, the kids love making “paint” with the berry fruit. This berry fruit stain can also be used as a natural food colouring and is non-toxic.

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Basella is packed with vitamin A, C, iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium and copper. It also contains betalains, saponins, tanins, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, sterols, amino-acids, carotenoids, vitamins B1, B2, B9, K and E, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and other minerals. Its thick, fleshy leaves are a good source of nonstarch polysaccharide and mucilage. In addition to regular fibre that is found in the stem and leaves, mucilage facilitates smooth digestion and brings reduction in cholesterol absorption, and help prevent bowel movement problems. Vitamin-A helps maintain healthy mucus membranes and skin, and it is essential for good eye-sight. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin-A, and flavonoids has been thought to offer protection from lung and oral cavity cancers. Vitamin-C is a powerful antioxidant, which helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals. Iron is an important trace element required by the human body for red blood cell (RBC's) production. Additionally, this element acts as a co-factor for oxidation-reduction enzyme, cytochrome-oxidase, during the cellular metabolism. Vitamins such as folate, vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), and riboflavin are essential compounds for DNA production and growth. Folate deficiency during very early stages of pregnancy might result in the neural tube defects in the newborn baby. Anticipating and pregnant women are therefore, advised to include a lot of fresh greens like Basella in their diet to help prevent neural tube defects in the offspring. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper are used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme - superoxide dismutase.

Fresh leaves, particularly of basella rubra, are rich sources of several vital carotenoid pigment anti-oxidants such as Ă&#x;-carotene, lutein and zea-xanthin. Together, these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a healing role in aging and various disease processes. Basella is one of the versatile leaf green vegetable and revered in some East Asian cultures for its wholesome phyto-nutrients profile. Basella is very low in calories and fats (100 g of raw leaves provide just 19 calories).

Akin to spinach, regular consumption of Basella in the diet helps prevent osteoporosis (weakness of bones) and iron-deficiency anaemia. Besides, it is believed to protect the body from cardiovascular diseases and cancers of colon.

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Health benefits Basella’s scientifically proven medicinal values are mostly unknown. It is used mainly in traditional medicine. Even though there have been many scientific studies that confirmed its healing actions, its traditional medical applications (Ayurveda and Sidha) are mainly forgotten. In South-east Asia, especially in the Philippines, it has been consumed for centuries for malaria, melanoma, leukaemia and oral cancers, mouth ulcers, dysentery, stomach pains, anorexia, sexual weakness, and irregular periods. It is also consumed to increase milk production in breastfeeding mothers and is applied topically in the form of smashed leaves on bruises, wounds, burns, skin inflammations, sores, scalds, fungal infections, boils, acne, freckles, snakebites and headaches.

Basella acts as an emollient, demulcent, cooling, diuretic, tonic, mild laxative, antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant, aphrodisiac, antiulcer, androgenic potential, cytotoxic, anticonvulsant, febrifuge and nephroprotective. Fresh juice is prescribed to ease constipation in children and pregnant women. It is commonly used mixed with Hibiscus macaranthus to increase women fertility. In Ayurvedic system of medicine it is said to aggravate kapha, alleviate vaatha and pitha.

With all these health benefits, I think everyone should have this miracle plant at home. We should be grateful to the Mother Nature for providing us with such wonderful plants. [ Dr. Annette Fernandez, Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, College of Engineering, Trivandrum.]

EKL Sudoku 113 Solution

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4 7 8 2 1 5 6 3 9

6 1 3 7 9 4 2 8 5

9 5 2 3 6 8 1 4 7

7 4 1 6 5 2 8 9 3

5 2 9 8 4 3 7 1 6

3 8 6 9 7 1 4 5 2

8 6 7 4 3 9 5 2 1

1 3 4 5 2 7 9 6 8

2 9 5 1 8 6 3 7 4

The Antikythera Machine The Adam of Computers

From ancient records, it was found out that a Roman merchant vessel sank in 80 BC off the coast of southern Greece near the island of Antikythera. This vessel was loaded with treasure and was salvaged in 1901. Among the items salvaged was a device (picture) consisting of a collection of gears. It was an intricate astronomical computing device used in Greece around 80 BC. It was called the Antikythera Machine in memory of the island near which it got hidden in the wreck of a vessel.

Archeologists went back to this ship in the 1950's to do a more careful job of searching for artefacts, and it was at that time that a wooden box containing gears was uncovered. A scholar offered the theory that it was a calculation device for predicting the motion of the sun and the moon. It was soon involved in a controversy because many archeologists were not willing to believe that the Greeks at that time were capable of inventing such a complicated instrument during a time when Greece was in decline. But, without doubt, it was one of the most astonishing and intriguing artifacts of the ancient world: a clock work with at least 32 gears, including differential, created around the year 80 B.C., probably on the island of Rhodes. Is this a machine built according to the likeness of Archimedes' Sphere alluded to by Cicero? Where is Archimedes' lost manuscript “On Sphere-Making” to clarify to us the astonishing technological knowledge of the Ancient World? With the arrival of powerful computers, those machines were used to reminisce about what many March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines25

considered to be the oldest computer – and the latest generation was used to shed light on what some considered as the “Adam” of the line.

In order to clear off the controversy that crept into Antikythera, Australian computer scientist Allan George Bromley (1947–2002) of the University of Sydney, working together with the Sydney clockmaker Frank Percival, partially reconstructed the device. This project led Bromley to review Price's X-ray analysis made in 1973 and to make new, more accurate X-ray images that were studied by Bromley's student, Bernard Gardner, in 1993.

Later, John Gleave constructed a working replica of the mechanism. According to his reconstruction, the front dial shows the annual progress of the sun and moon through the zodiac as per the Egyptian calendar. But, as if to remain neutral in the Egyptian or Greek debate, he stated that the upper rear dial displays a four-year period and has associated dials showing the Metonic cycle of 235 synodic (solar) months. The lower rear dial plots the cycle of a single synodic month, with a secondary dial showing the lunar year of 12 synodic months.

Another reconstruction was made in 2002 by Michael Wright, mechanical engineering curator for the Science Museum in London, working with the above mentioned Allan Bromley. On November 30, 2006, the journal Nature published an article on Wright’s and his team’s analysis of the Antikythera device. It confirmed that the instrument had been used to predict solar and lunar eclipses. The new analysis confirmed that the major structure had a single, centrally placed dial on the front plate that showed the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar on concentric scales. Two other dials on the back displayed information about the timing of lunar cycles and eclipse patterns. Previously, the idea that the mechanism could predict eclipses had only been a hypothesis. The study also revealed some of the complexity of the engineering that had gone into this device. The Moon sometimes moves slightly faster in the sky than at others because of the satellite's elliptic orbit. To overcome this, the designer of the device used a pinand-slot mechanism to connect two gear-wheels that introduced the necessary variations.

The team was also able to decipher more of the text on the mechanism, doubling the amount of text that can now be read. Some of the inscriptions mention the word Venus and stationary, suggesting that 26Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

the tool could look at retrogressions of planets. Wright also believes that the device was not a one-off, but was probably “mass produced” at the time and must have been the product of previous, less fancy clocks.

That those earlier models might have been lost in the mist of time is understandable, but the big question that baffled everyone is, why such clocks did not continue to be built in the centuries that followed, and why it took more than a millennium before a clock of the same technological expertise appeared again.

Despite the acceptance that this is a 1st century BC planetarium, some questions remain. Price pointed out that he himself did not know whether it was operated manually, by turning, or automatically, more likely that it was permanently mounted, perhaps set in a statue, and displayed as an exhibition piece. In that case it might well have been turned by the power from a water clock or some other device.

Perhaps it is just such a wondrous device that was mounted inside the famous Tower of Winds in Athens. It is certainly very similar to the great astronomical cathedral clocks that were built all over Europe during the Renaissance – 1500 years later. Wright’s team argue that it was manually operated, but this would somewhat work against a mass produced item, for it would require the most work from those people buying it; care for the device would be labour intensive. So perhaps Price’s hypothesis that it was to be used within a religious setting is more appealing – though every hypothesis is currently guesswork.

The discovery of the Antikythera Device led to one gigantic realisation: that our everyday clock started as an astronomical showpiece that happened also to indicate the time – and not vice versa, as most believed half a century ago. Gradually, the timekeeping functions of the clocks became more important and the device that showed the cycles of heaven became subsidiary – only to be forgotten, and then reinvented all over again – all wheels inclusive.

Today, the device is worshipped by many as it is seen as the first calculator – computer. Price labelled the Antikythera Device as the venerable progenitor of all our present plethora of scientific hardware. It should not come as a surprise that the original mechanism is displayed in the Bronze collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, accompanied by a replica. Another replica is on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana. In substance, it is bronze; intellectually, it is a computer.

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The Indian Civil Service The Dream of Indian Youth

Selection for the jobs under the Indian Civil Services is done through the three pronged examination pattern: Preliminary - Main – Interview, that is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The complete list of the services for which recruitment is done through the UPSC civil service examination conducted every calendar year is given below: • Group A Services 1. Indian Administrative Service (IAS) 2. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) 3. Indian Police Service (IPS) 4. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service 5. Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) 6. Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) (IRS) 7. Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) 8. Indian Revenue Service (I.T.) 9. Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration) 10. Indian Postal Service 11. Indian Civil Accounts Service 12. Indian Railway Traffic Service 13. Indian Railway Accounts Service 14. Indian Railway Personnel Service 15. Indian Railway Protection Force (Assistant Security Commissioner) 16. Indian Defence Estates Service 17. Indian Information Service (Junior Grade) 18. Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III) 19. Indian Corporate Law Service • Group - B Services 1. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade) 2. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service 3. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service 4. Pondicherry Civil Service 5. Pondicherry Police Service 28Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

Other Services 1. Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2. Indian Engineering Service (IES) 3. Indian Economics Service (IES) 4. Indian Statistical Service (ISS) 5. Indian Geological Service (IGS) 6. Indian Agricultural Research Service (IARS) Academic and Age Eligibility The candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree in any discipline from any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University, under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the date, every year, as specified by UPSC. The upper age limit will be relaxable for certain categories of applicants, as per provisions.

Nationality a. The candidate must be a citizen of India to be eligible for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS). For other services, a candidate must be either: b. a citizen of India, c. or a subject of Nepal, d. or a subject of Bhutan, e. or a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, f. or a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

A candidate belonging to categories (c), (d), (e) and (f) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Candidates belonging to categories (c), (d), (e) and (f) above will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.

Since the examination is a single window entry to the numerous services under various categories, winners get allotted to each category as per the merit list ranking based on the final score of the candidate.

Once you are alotted a service you will occupy various posts under that service alone, unless in some cases you go on a deputation to another department and in other service. Promotions in the civil services are usually time bound, but orders are dependant on the state or central government's March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines29

clearance of the file. However, even if it may get delayed, you will get your salary arrears for that promotion from the notified date.

Preliminary Examination A combined Preliminary Examination is held for the Indian Civil Services and the Indian Forest Service. For other services, examinations and selection processes are separate. The Preliminary Examination consists of two objective type papers, where candidates are tested on areas such as economics, politics, history, geography, environment, awareness of current affairs, reading comprehension, logical reasoning, basic numeracy skills, inter-personal skills and decision making.

Main Examination The Civil Services Mains examination is in written format and aims to test the academic talent and the ability of the candidate to present the answers in a clear and coherent manner. The Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth and understanding of the candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory.

The UPSC has revised the pattern of Civil Services Main examination from 2016.

Now there are 7 + 2 = 9 papers to be answered in the main examination. All of them are of descriptive type. There are two qualifying papers 1) any modern Indian language of 300 marks 2) English of 300 marks. The marks of these two papers will not be counted in the preparation of the merit list of the main examination.

The candidate is allowed to pick any one language from the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution or English as the medium for writing the mains examination.

According to the new pattern in the UPSC syllabus, the third paper is an essay of 250 marks, which could be written in a language of the candidate's choice. The next FOUR General Studies papers, each comprising of 250 Marks are made compulsory. The scope of the syllabus of General Studies papers are of degree level. They can be written in the medium or language of the candidate's choice. The papers are: 1. Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society 2. Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations 3. Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management 4. Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude There is only ONE optional subject to choose from the list of subjects.

It comprises of two papers each of 300 marks. So the optional paper has total 600 marks. Candidate is allowed to take up literature as an optional 30ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMarch 2017

subject without the condition of having the same at graduation level. The scope of the syllabus of optional paper is higher than the bachelor's degree but lower than the master's level.

A candidate is allowed to use any one language from the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution or English as the medium of writing the examination.

Interview/Personality Test is of 275 Marks. Candidate can give preference of the language in which they may like to be interviewed. UPSC will make arrangement for the translators. • How to choose a Civil Service The Order of preference of services for Civil Service is asked when you are filling up the form to write the Mains examination after qualifying in the preliminary examination. You may choose the order of preference of services as per your choice, from the All India Services, Group A and Group B. However, before you do that get to know about the responsibilities and postings of all the services and their standing in society vis-a-vis other jobs you may take up. You may look down upon some. Make sure you do your research and not regret later. You can seek some basic information from the website and also take advice from experts of the Civil Services examination. After that make up your mind about the best of the services which you can happily pursue and then make your choices while applying for the mains exam. Remember you may like to join a particular service which you may consider your dream job but your rank in merit list may not help you to fulfill your wish. In such case do not get obsessed with only one service and you must choose other options as well. Your options must be based in order of popularity of the service. One thing you must remember, later on you will not get an opportunity to change your choice to a more popular service, even if you get the required ranking. So it is better to choose the preference according to the list of services in Demand.

Some people underestimate themselves and list their preference first for lower service or less desirable services, so that they may get it for sure. But it is a wrong thinking, why you may under- estimate yourself when you have qualified for the mains exam?

Start with the very first service that is All India Service IAS/IFS/IPS and the Group A service. After that you may choose the Group B Service. Do not leave any option, even though you may not like it on its face value.

The civil services results can be very unpredictable and even if you are a topper in your school and college, you may not get the best services on the list. Make sure you do not leave out any service due to over confidence.

List all of them in descending order so that in case you do not get the service you think you will surely get, you still have some options left.

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Mother, Can I Tell You Something?

A Thoughtful Caution to Parental Care

"Mother, do you really love your son or daughter? Do you want your country to prosper?�.

I understand your desire to protect your child, and find for him or her a bright future. My parents often tell me about it, and as I grew up and started thinking about life, I started understanding that feeling. By no means do I wish for your kid to become an outlaw or a criminal, or lose self to alcohol or video games or the opposite gender. All I wish is to protect him or her from another, bigger danger that almost took me, which is mental suicide.

Suicide is synonymous to giving up. When someone commits physical suicide, it is a declaration of one's desire to cease all actions, and give up on every single thing in life; to stop trying. But there is another kind of suicide that can destroy people in disturbing ways. And that is the concept of mental suicide. This is a lifestyle choice, where you stop thinking about what you do, and let life just pass by as it is. You stop making conscious decisions, you stop doing things for yourself, and subsequently, you start losing sight of yourself. Over a time, people who have committed mental suicide blend into the gray abyss of existence, losing their personality and uniqueness. They become something that has been adapted just for existence, among many other things.

Does that sound like what you want your son or daughter to become?

What is the trait that you cherish most about him or her? How would you react if he or she loses this trait, and becomes just like his or her friends?

Do you wonder what leads up to mental suicide? It is nothing but losing trust in your ability to make your own decisions. May be, you are making a very big mistake right now, which you, and your child will later pay for. This mistake is, not trusting your adolescent kid to make his or her own decisions, writing them off as being too young to know what is best for them. And the more decisions you make for them, the more they become dependent on you. When people you love the most do not support or trust your decisions, it is very hard to trust yourself.

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Let me take a moment to tell you about my own parents. My father comes from a poor peasant background, but he has brought himself into a respectable and well-paying position in the government, following years of hard work. Thanks to him, I have in my possession many information technology devices, musical instruments and the like. When I wanted something, he would buy it for me in return for good performance in tests. Thanks to his sufferings and experiences in life, he strongly believes that money is the most important thing in the world, and he always fears for my future. Like most parents, he was convinced that pushing me into engineering, the easiest and respectable field of work in India, would secure my future. So he always told me to pick a career related to engineering. He never encouraged me to make use of my various talents or realize my dreams. I love him, so I went along with it, and I too got convinced that something like design, art or music, which I had obvious talent for, could never be a strong career. I started preparing for the JEE. I was unhappy. After a year’s painful hard work towards JEE, I stopped without making any remarkable progress. If you work at an institution, you get paid whether or not you actually do any work. But if you are studying for an exam, you will not be rewarded unless you put in the hard work. And I was miserable and discontented, and that reflected in my work. I hear a lot of parents complain that their kids are not studying.

How can they do any actual work if they are entirely disinterested in their course of education? How can one expect a kid who has artistic talents to study physics, chemistry and math!? I realized that the year I wasted was the most unhappy one in my life, and that most of my skills had partially deteriorated. So I made a decision for myself, for the first time in months.

I acknowledged my passion, and decided to follow it regardless of what my father said. I didn’t expect any support from him, which led to the silence which persists between us now.

Students who are sent off to Kota or Delhi curse their bad fate. Their whole lives, they are taught to believe that there is no path other than engineering. So when they clear the exam and come face to face with the blatant lie that they are going to be engineers for the rest of their lives, the most sensitive of these kids kill themselves because they did not want to be engineers. And what about the other kids? They reluctantly accept their path, and commit mental suicide. They waste their life away, hating their jobs, afraid to make a decision against their parents’ will. If their parents send them to the UK, they go. If their parents marry them off, they silently stand by.

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I have taken part in debates and surveys regarding the matter of parents choosing their children’s careers. And every other post is a cry for help by some poor 23-year-old who got pushed into the engineering or medical field by his parents, while he had other talents. I hate reading those words.

They strongly believe that they cannot escape from their fate, and that their lives are ruined forever. They ask if they should run away or commit suicide, they ask God to help them. And they often say that they wished their parents knew how they felt. They are even afraid to talk to their own parents about how much they are struggling!

In contrast to that, let me tell you about my Mom. I love my Mom, and I’m happy to say that. My Mom always supported me. Even in times when my ideas were impossible to put up with, she always tried to understand me, or failing that, she still tried her best to accept my dreams, and let me build my own ideas. I talked to her in depth nearly every single day, tormenting her with my ideas or my plans for the future, and poor thing, she listened to it all, and where she couldn’t understand me, she still accepted it. (But because I still had some childishness in me, when she would not support the tiniest thing, I would get mad at her and storm off to my room. I did her a great injustice in that respect.) Thanks to my Mom I had hope.

I used to wonder what it would have been like if me and my father had this kind of a relationship. I used to wonder what it would have been like if my parents had fully supported and motivated me from the beginning, and encouraged me to choose my own career. I wonder where I would be right now, if I had invested in design and the arts from an early age.

Why do parents find it so hard to give credibility to their children?

Well, the reason that most parents give is that the children haven’t "seen enough life" to fend for themselves. I believe that you have seen many things in life, and experienced many emotions, and solved many problems in your own life, and all of that has added up to create your perception of reality. Without a doubt, we kids do not have this perception of reality at our ages, because we have not yet had to deal with these situations.

But what kids do have are ideas and dreams. Ideas that may be radically different from what is reality. We dream of changing things, and building something new in its place. We have ideas about how some things should be, from the color of a wall, to the design of a government. India has some of the brightest students in the world, who can surely think of things like these. And when parents hear these ideas, because these ideas are so 34Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

different from what they are used to, they instantly lash out at the child who presented the idea, saying that reality is not like that. They declare that the child’s dream is ridiculous, and that he should follow a more ‘sensible’ path like engineering. But guess what? Dreams of our ancestors built the reality that you know. College students built the world around you. I’m talking about computers, Facebook, smartphones, clothes, food, television, books, radios - each of those were some child’s dream. And dreams of the coming generations can definitely reimagine and redesign your reality. If only parents would start listening to these ideas and dreams for real, and stop claiming they were so outlandish, these kids would gain faith and trust in their own thinking, and they would take these dreams with them to the future, where they’ll end up producing something that changes the world forever.

Does that sound like what you want your child to become?

Why is it that the greatest inventions and companies that ignited the Digital Revolution came from America? Because no one tried to impose their idea of reality on those youngsters; their parents did not force them to go into a career they did not want. So these kids recognized their abilities and dreams, and took their simple ideas for a personal computer or a social network and reinvented reality. And once the new reality was in place, the rest of the world just followed in their footsteps.

When the people of a country starts valuing “real” things over dreams, that marks the end of innovative thinking in that country, and the demise of its civilization. This is exactly what happened in Europe in the Middle Ages. In this period, the building blocks of the society were small keeps called manors, where a lord would preside over his subjects, who would produce the clothing, food, and equipment necessary for proper functioning of life within that manor. They practiced real things like agriculture and farming, and did not put much emphasis on new ideas and innovation. Peasants who lived on these manors were barred by law from going much farther than a few kilometers from the manors. The result? From the Fall of Rome in 476 B.C., until the rise of the Renaissance in the 20th century, Europe was eclipsed in a period of almost no scientific inventions or architectural masterpieces, which historians today call the Dark Age. I firmly believe that at the rate we are going, India is in its own dark age. Since our first Olympic Games in 1900, we have secured 28 medals, whereas the US, counting from 1896 secured 2,520 medals. And they bring home about a hundred each year. So why doesn’t India get many March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines35

medals? Because no one is encouraged to go into the arts field or the sports field. The US sent 554 athletes to the Rio 2016 games, while India sent 117 athletes. Note that in 2016, the population of the US was 300 million, while that of India was 1.3 billion. You are so quick to talk about India’s rich history, art and culture, but the moment we say we want to go into one of those fields, you act differently. You want India to win medals, but deny us from becoming sportspersons. What does that lead to? A barren future for India.

Please stop expecting things from your child. And see what kind of marvels they can think up for themselves. Encourage them to make a bet on their wildest dreams or craziest ideas and work hard on it all their lives, and see how happy they are. And see how they’ve influenced the people around them. Please listen to what your child says he or she wants to pursue. This is how you know that this decision of his or hers is genuine: If you’ve ever really observed your child closely, you will realize that he or she has always had that particular talent or attitude.

But now I feel lucky. When I opted for a career in design, my Mom told me that I was always good at that. Apparently, when I was little, I was good at creative arts like drawing and painting, and loved making things with my own hands. I was never ordinary - I never gave up on the things I wanted. If this attitude was noticed and encouraged by my parents when I was younger, I would have been a lot happier, and I would have saved a lot of time and energy. I hope you get the opportunity to do it for your child.

Now, I am hopeful of pursuing my dream career in design.

[Nandu] Extracts from: How to Tackle Engineering Entrance Exams (a book in the making, by the Author)

Don’t take rest after your first victory because if you fail in second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.

- A.P.J Abdul Kalam

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How to Control Aging It will be a boon to the humanity if aging could be controlled, may be using drugs. In a path-breaking discovery, an international team of scientists led by Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies claim to have found the key to keeping cells young.

They studied the gene responsible for an accelerated aging disease known as Werner syndrome. Patients with this disease are deficient in a gene responsible for copying DNA, repairing any mistakes in that replication process, and for keeping track of telomeres, the fragments of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that are like a genetic clock dictating the cell’s life span. The researchers probed to understand how the mutated gene triggered aging in cells. So they took embryonic stem cells, which can develop into all of the cells of the human body, and removed this gene. They then watched as the cells aged prematurely, and found that the reason they became older so quickly had to do with how their DNA was packaged.

In order to function properly, DNA is tightly twisted and wound into chromosomes that resemble a rope in the nucleus of cells. Only when the cell is ready to divide does the DNA unwrap itself, and even then, only in small segments at a time. In patients with Werner syndrome, the chromosomes are slightly messier, more loosely stuffed into the nuclei, and that leads to instability that pushes the cell to age more quickly.

In another exciting analysis of a population of stem cells taken from the dental pulp of both younger and older people, he found that the older individuals, aged 58 to 72 years, had fewer genetic markers for the chromosome instability while the younger people aged seven to 26 years showed higher levels of these indicators. The researchers feel that the effective protein causing instability does not only work in a particular genetic disease, but it works in all humans. However, Belmonte says new and better techniques need to be developed that can more specifically and safely alter the Werner gene in people.

[For details: http://www.salk.edu] March 2017 ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž37

FORM IV Statement about ownership and other particulars of newspaper

Executive Knowledge Lines 1. Place of Publication

186, P T P Nagar, Trivandrum - 695 038, India

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Monthly

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N. T. Nair

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Indian

Address

186, P T P Nagar, Trivandrum - 695 038

4. Publisher’s Name

N. T. Nair

Nationality

Indian

Address

186, P T P Nagar, Trivandrum - 695 038

5. Editor’s Name

N. T. Nair

Nationality

Indian

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186, P T P Nagar, Trivandrum - 695 038

6. Name and addresses of N. T. Nair individuals who own the 186, P T P Nagar, newspaper and partners or Trivandrum - 695 038 shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital I, N.T. Nair, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

(S/d) Date: 1 March, 2017 N.T. Nair, Publisher 38Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

Artificial Intelligence An Overview

Computer usage currently surrounds the Internet. World wide web serves as the backbone of applications over the Internet. Most of the applications make use of the enormous volume of knowledge stored on the web. In the use of the web, intelligence now place a major role. Current day web is intentionally called the semantic web indicating that web usage makes use of the ideas, rather than forms, held on the web. This aspect is referred to as the exploitation of artificial intelligence in web applications.

In this context, it is meaningful to have an overview of the concept of artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that pursues creating machines or computers as intelligent as human beings. According to John McCarthy, the father of Artificial Intelligence, it is The science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs.

In another way, Artificial Intelligence is a way of making a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or a software think intelligently, in a manner as the humans think. AI is accomplished by studying how humans think, learn, decide and work while trying to solve a problem, and then using the outcomes of this study as a basis of developing intelligent software and systems.

Philosophy of AI While exploiting the power of the computer systems, the curiosity of human leads him to wonder, Can a machine think and behave like humans do? Thus, the development of AI started with the intention of creating similar intelligence in machines that we find and regard high in humans.

Goals of AI • To Create Expert Systems − The systems which exhibit intelligent behavior, learn, demonstrate, explain, and advice its users.

• To Implement Human Intelligence in Machines − Creating systems that understand, think, learn, and behave like humans.

What Contributes to AI? Artificial intelligence is a science and technology based on disciplines such as Computer Science, Neuroscience, Biology, Psychology, Linguistics, Mathematics, and Engineering. A major thrust of AI is in the develMarch 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines39

opment of computer functions associated with human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, and problem solving.

Knowledge is the basis of intelligence; and so is artificial intelligence.

Some characteristics of knowledge are: • Its volume is huge, next to unimaginable.

• It is not well-organized or well-formatted.

• It keeps changing constantly.AI Technique is a manner to organize and use the knowledge efficiently in such a way that: • It should be perceivable by the people who provide it.

• It should be easily modifiable to correct errors.

• It should be useful in many situations though it is incomplete or inaccurate.

AI techniques elevate the speed of execution of the complex program it is equipped with.

Applications of AI AI has been dominant in various fields such as: • Gaming − AI plays crucial role in strategic games such as chess, poker, tic-tac-toe, etc., where machine can think of large number of possible positions based on heuristic knowledge.

• Natural Language Processing − It is possible to interact with the computer that understands natural language spoken by humans.

• Expert Systems − There are some applications which integrate machine, software, and special information to impart reasoning and advising. They provide explanation and advice to the users.

• Vision Systems − These systems understand, interpret, and comprehend visual input on the computer. For example,  A spying aeroplane takes photographs, which are used to figure out spatial information or map of the areas.  Doctors use clinical expert system to diagnose the patient.  Police use computer software that can recognize the face of criminal with the stored portrait made by forensic artist.

• Speech Recognition − Some intelligent systems are capable of hearing and comprehending the language in terms of sentences and their meanings while a human talks to it. It can handle different accents, slang words, noise in the background, change in human’s noise due to cold, etc.

• Handwriting Recognition − The handwriting recognition software 40Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

reads the text written on paper by a pen or on screen by a stylus. It can recognize the shapes of the letters and convert it into editable text.

• Intelligent Robots − Robots are able to perform the tasks given by a human. They have sensors to detect physical data from the real world such as light, heat, temperature, movement, sound, bump, and pressure.

They have efficient processors, multiple sensors and huge memory, to exhibit intelligence. In addition, they are capable of learning from their mistakes and they can adapt to the new environment.

Science in Aid of Disabled Special Devices for Physical Support

To remind the significance of science in the development of humanity, National Science Week and National Science Day are being celebrated by countries throughout the world every year on predetermined days, different for various countries. India celebrates its National Science Day on February 28 to commemorate the discovery of Raman Effect for which Dr. CV Raman was awarded a Nobel Prize. Starting from the year 1999, India used to celebrate the day with a specified theme. The theme for this year was Science and Technology for specially abled persons. How science and technology come in the aid of specially abled persons is amply proved in the case of the world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. After school education, Stephen wanted to study Mathematics but pursued Physics instead since Mathematics was not a subject of specialisation at that time in Oxford University. After completion of University, Stephen went to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology. On gaining his Ph.D. Stephen joined the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in 1979, and held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1979 until 2009. Stephen is still an active part of Cambridge University. His present title is the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General TheoMarch 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines41

ry of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated the necessity to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but rather should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science.

Professor Hawking has authored many books. He was awarded twelve honorary degrees. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Among the popular books Stephen Hawking has published are his best seller A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and other Essays, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Grand Design, My Brief History, The Large Scale Structure of Space-time and 300 Years of Gravity.

Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with a Motor Neuron Disease that has left him almost entirely paralyzed, shortly after his 21st birthday. In spite of being wheelchair bound and dependent on a computerised voice system for communication Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life with wives, children and grandchildren, and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures. He still hopes to make it into space one day.

Since 1997, Stephen Hawking’s computer-based communication system has been sponsored and provided by the Intel Corporation. A tablet computer mounted on the arm of the wheelchair powered by fail-free batteries and connected to a Speech Generating Device (SGD) assures continuous communication facility. SGDs are important for people who have limited means of interacting verbally, as they allow individuals to become active participants in communication interactions. Speech generating devices can produce electronic voice output by using digitized recordings of natural speech or through speech synthesis, which may carry less emotional information but can permit the user to speak novel mes42Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

sages. As such Professor Hawking is able to communicate only by using a small sensor switch which is activated by a muscle in his cheek. He uses this sensor to ‘type’ characters and numbers on his keyboard. This is made effective through a program called EZ Keys, written by Words Plus Inc. This provides a software keyboard on the screen. A cursor automatically scans across this keyboard by row or by column. A character is selected by moving the cheek to stop the cursor. The cheek movement is detected by the infrared switch that is mounted on the spectacles. This switch is the only hardware interface with the computer. EZ Keys includes a word prediction algorithm. The first couple of characters can accurately predict whole words from which the desired word can be selected. That means the time and effort Professor Hawking requires to type is significantly reduced, allowing for a much easier, speedier experience for him. When a sentence is built, it can be sent to a speech synthesizer made by Speech+ to be pronounced with built-in accent.

Through EZ Keys Hawking can also control the mouse in Windows.

This allows him to operate the whole computer. He can check the email using the Eudora email client, surf the internet using Firefox, or write lectures using Notepad. The latest computer from Intel also contains a webcam which he uses with Skype to keep in touch with friends. He can express a lot through the facial expressions to those who know him well.

Lectures are written beforehand and saved on the disk. Lecture is sent to the speech synthesizer a sentence at a time using the Equalizer software written by Words Plus. It works quite well and the lecture could be polished before it is delivered.

[CGS]

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

- Albert Einstein March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines43

Journal Scan Scientific American February 2017 Highlights of Contents: • Tales of a Stone Age Neuroscientist: By honing ax-making skills while scanning their own brains, researchers are studying how cognition evolved.

• A Puzzle Lies at the Heart of the Atom: Two precision experiments disagree on how long neutrons live before decaying. Does the discrepancy reflect measurement errors or point to some deeper mystery?

• A Shot against Cancer: Vaccines that target cancer cells using their own DNA could help eliminate tumors and prevent recurrences.

• Friendly Germs Protect Mice against Cancer: Some types of intestinal bacteria may boost the body's ability to fight malignancy.

• Tourists Could Soon Overrun the Galápagos, Killing Its Famous Biodiversity: A relentless rise in visitors could ruin the famous biodiversity hotspot in only a few years.

• Bizarre, Giant Birds Once Ruled the Skies: Fossils of enormous

extinct seabirds are now illuminating how such behemoths took wing.

• Deteriorating Plastic Threatens to Ruin Museum Treasures: Plas-

tic in Apollo spacesuits, Andy Warhol paintings and other museum pieces are falling apart. Researchers are learning how to rescue the endangered treasures.

The person who reads too much and uses his brain too little will fall into lazy habits of thinking.

- Albert Einstein 44Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines45

Volume 12 Issue 8 March 2017 Chief Editor N T Nair

Authentication Editors Dr C G Sukumaran Nair (CGS) Simon Zachariah

Technical Editor Dr B N Nair

Advertising and Subscriptions S N Nair

Consultants

Editorial Board Prof. V K Damodaran P R Chandran Prof. Harimohan Bhattathiri R Narayanan (RN) P Radhakrishnan (PR) Advisory Committee Dr D S Rane Dr P M Mathew (Vellore) Dr V Nandamohan

Finance R Bhadrakumar FCA Production Ravisankar K V

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Kolkata: T R R Menon Mob: +919433011424 email: trrmenon@yahoo.com Mumbai: S G Nair Mob: +919323780029

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Contact: Vandana P S, Manager(Knowledge Operations), Tel. 91 471 247 2928 email: ekl@knowledgelines.com eklines@gmail.com www.knowledgelines.com

TheWork best and things in the and world givesmost you beautiful meaning and purpose cannot or without even touched lifebeisseen empty it. they must be felt with the heart.

- Stephen Hawking - Helen Keller 46Executive Knowledge LinesMarch 2017

The Last Word “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

-William Shakespeare Owned, Edited, Printed, and Published by N T Nair, 186, PTP Nagar, Trivandrum 695 038 Printed by Akshara Offset, TC 25/ 3230(1), Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum 695 035 Published at Trivandrum. Editor: N T Nair March 2017 Executive Knowledge Lines47

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